Mr. Brian Lenihan T.D., the Irish
Minister for Children today opened the annual conference of the National
Children’s
Nursery Association (NCNA) entitled “Children – the centre
of daycare”. The NCNA is one of the seven National Voluntary Childcare
Organisations funded under the Equal Opportunities Childcare Programme
(EOCP) 2000 – 2006 and is one of Ireland’s leading childcare
organisations.
In his opening speech the Minister commended the NCNA on its commitment
to providing support, advice, training and mentoring for its 600 members,
which includes owners and managers of crèches and those involved
in training of childcare workers.
At a special ceremony, the Minister also presented the NCNA’s
Centre of Excellence Awards to sixteen childcare services. He thanked
the NCNA and its members for their dedication to high quality standards
in the Early Childhood Care and Education sector and congratulated the
recipients of the awards, which included a mixture of urban and rural
and private and community based providers.
The EOCP funded services presented with awards included three in Cork
City - Wallaroo Playschool, An Cliabhain in Ballyphehane/Togher, and
Gobnait Burke Playgroup; Humpty's House, Waterford; and Grovelands Childcare,
Ballymahon, Athlone. Other government funded services included the Civil
Service Chatterboxes crèches in Athlone and Celbridge; and the
Grovelands crèches in Tullamore and Athlone IDA Technology Parks.
Other services receiving Awards were Bright Horizons, Swords; the EU
Commission, Meath; Tír na nÓg, Athy; Kanga Kare, Arklow;
Horizons Montessori, Cork City; The Toddler Inn, Dublin 7; and Daisychain,
Leopardstown, Dublin.
The prestigious Centre of Excellence Awards are available to childcare
providers who are committed to raising standards and providing quality
services. They are assessed under various criteria including activities
and programmes for children; relationships in the nursery; partnerships
with families; health, safety and hygiene; staff conditions and professional
development; physical environment; food and nutrition; management and
administration; implementation of policies and procedures, and evaluation
and review of the nursery. The Awards were launched in 2002 and will
be rolled out on an All-Ireland basis in 2007 in co-operation with the
Northern Ireland Pre-school and Play-school Association. To date 42 services
have qualified for the Awards since they were introduced.
Minister Lenihan also referred to the Government’s clear commitment
to childcare under the new €575 million National Childcare Investment
Programme, announced in Budget 2006. Ambitious targets have been set
for the next five years, not just in terms of additional childcare places,
but also in terms of the specific needs for pre-school services, school
age childcare and wrap around services for children and parents. Last
week, the Minister announced almost €11 million in capital grant
assistance and over €1 million in staffing grant assistance to childcare
providers. He emphasised his commitment to ensuring that the targets
set are met in a way which takes account of the specific needs of parents
and their children.
Minister Lenihan concluded by congratulating the staff of the sixteen
services receiving the Centre of Excellence Awards and said that he looked
forward to seeing the Awards rolled out on an All-Ireland basis in 2007.
News
is included on this website to inform visitors about current health
issues, but not to endorse
any particular view
or activity. The views stated in the article above are not necessarily
those of IvyRose Ltd.. Material in this news item was released
by the Irish Department of Health and Children (Ireland),
on 1 April 2006.
|
